Unverified Voracity Commences Insultingly Comment Count

Brian

Oh man. I will not mention anything about brothers.

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Mary Sue Coleman? That's gotta sting. Compounding matters: Steelcase CEO James Hackett, another of their speakers, is also a Michigan graduate. Fergodsake, MSU, just put Narduzzi up there.

SCORE. Wolverine Historian has had his video library restored. Run around in circles, but in a good way. 408 painstakingly crafted retrospectives on Michigan past, back. Here is a randomly selected one:

2001 Iowa

The infuriating part of all of this was that no one who puts these things on the tubes is looking to get rich; they are just sharing their fandom, taking items of little financial but excellent emotional value. I'm not going to pay one red cent to watch a game from 2001 broadcast on free television. I will take in a highlight package and deepen my fandom. It's a soft benefit from the perspective on high, but man if I was looking at 0.01% of my revenue versus not being T3Media, well…

US Soccer gets this; they slap great highlight packages from every game they have rights to on YouTube (ie, no World Cup), and sometimes I get lost in them like it's Wikipedia. It's 100% feelingsball, but that kind of thing makes me like the USMNT more from the top down. Getting annoyed by whatever Michigan's latest un-embeddable video player that's crappier than YouTube by a factor of ten is a detraction, and the payoff is minimal.

Hopefully this is a sign that the hardliners have been relegated to the back. T3's channel exists, even. Now… can YouTube maybe unlock my previous UFR account?

LET US DISPATCH ENTHUSIASM. Man, I wanted to write a post on the Concordia game but it seemed like too much what with Ace saying all the things I wanted to. Still, UMHoops jumps in as they are wont to and I want to say things about things. So let's do that.

  • Concordia but. In 2010, Michigan played Concordia. They won 86-65 and Concordia's center went off for 29 points on Jordan Morgan. Michigan led 42-32 at the half. This was a different game, and a different level of team. That team was a Darius Morris bucket away from taking Duke to OT in the second round of the NCAA tournament. This game was an annihilation, and that was without the guy who's probably the best player on the team.
  • Oh, man, Caris. I will not get too excited about Caris LeVert. I will not get too excited about Caris LeVert. I will not WOOOOOOO CARIS LEVERT. LeVert flashed the ability to get where he wanted on the court last year, which is an impressive ability at 6'6". He never really delivered; he was always the kind of guy who might blow up hardcore with some more development. Blowing up hardcore is… I will not get too excited about Caris LeVert. Oh man.
  • GRIII, also. Robinson drove to about 15 feet and pulled up for a Jumper I Hate and it went down, back of the iron, smooth, and I wasn't even mad because Robinson going and getting it is something to look at.
  • Stauskas, also. Do not play the "not just a shooter" drinking game this year. You will die.
  • Walton… you get it. This is a team with many good players on it.

Racine back soon? The Daily's Greg Garno tweets that Red is "leaning" towards Zach Nagelvoort this weekend; he has returned to practice. That one word promises Racine back on the ice next week or the week after. Even if that seems far less urgent than it did when he went out against New Hampshire, Racine's still the starter and should be until he falters.

This will be cool or infuriating or probably both. Prepare thine vintage torches and antique pitchforks, ye mobbe of Ten Yeare War-ists.

BTN Originals will premiere Tiebreaker, the network’s first feature-length documentary, at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 16. Tiebreaker paints an indelible portrait of college football’s most storied rivalry and reveals a forgotten moment in college football history that helped shape today’s game.  

The 60-minute documentary examines the aftermath of the 1973 Ohio State v. Michigan football game that ended in a 10-10 tie. With both teams sporting identical 7-0-1 conference records, Big Ten Athletic Directors were left to vote on which school would represent the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl. At that time, only one Big Ten team could play in a bowl game. In a controversial vote, the Big Ten Athletic Directors voted to send Ohio State to Pasadena. Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler called the decision “the lowest day of my athletic career.”

Hopefully this is a little more hard-hitting than The Journey, which is about 20% cool inside stuff and 80% watching Aaron Craft make pancakes. That's not a joke. I caught an episode last year in which a good five minutes was dedicated to Aaron Craft making pancakes*. Moar NFL films, less soft-focus twee, please.

*[Naturally, he crowded the pan.]

Not looking great. The Power Rank's take on the Big Ten division race:

BigTenLegends_winprob_Nov2013[1]

A win Saturday and Michigan State is gone; so much for the preseason It All Comes Down To November meme. It comes down to this game. Win it and Michigan has a half-game lead. Lose it and State is 2.5 up on M and home free unless… uh… yeah, home free. Ed's numbers have Michigan with a 37% shot in East Lansing, FWIW.

Etc.: Dan on Fire is the best. Boy can the NCAA write a grabbing headline. Narduzzi's probably out the door soon, so at least there's that. Florida: the new Purdue? Come on, certify the players' class, man. More with that girl from the Indiana game. Someone find a different picture of her.

Comments

DingoBlue

October 31st, 2013 at 1:20 PM ^

about LeVert by telling myself he's still listed at only 185 (lighter than Stauskas last year).  So.... maybe that will keep my expectations in check after Concordia... (sees 10 assists) nope.

His Dudeness

October 31st, 2013 at 3:10 PM ^

No No No, man. I'm saying people were talking about Vince Young shit... Obviously that was garbage from the beginning, but people were talking.

I like DG to be honest. He works hard. Throws well and can escape. I'm just saying the dude has a lot of talent with a lot to work on. He's alright with me. I like that type of QB.

Brian (as well as others) got a wee bit ahead of themselves with the DG-hype so think about that when you want to calm down on the LeVert hype as well. That's all I'm saying.

PurpleStuff

October 31st, 2013 at 3:31 PM ^

He's basically been as productive as Vince Young (in his one good season as a passer) with a few more INTs (Young threw 10 in 2005 while Devin has that many already).  Devin's thrown for more TD and nearly as many yards as Young put up the entire season he beat us in the Rose Bowl. 

Not your fault, I'm just getting sick of our fans bitching about some of the most talented players we're ever going to see and pining for the days when we lost to mediocre ND teams half the time and never beat OSU.

TwoFiveAD

October 31st, 2013 at 2:57 PM ^

I believe Gardner has more turnovers this year than Chad Henne had in his entire career.  (Maybe more TO's in his first full season of games, one or the other).

I Know people around here have a hard on for dual threats, but personally, I'll take a QB that takes care of the ball.  If he can run, great, but I could care less about that as long as the kid doesn't turn the ball over.

Devin Gardner will single handedly win or lose this game for us this weekend depending on how well he takes care of the ball.

GoBlueInNYC

October 31st, 2013 at 3:12 PM ^

Totally agree. With both you and TwoFiveAD. Gardner has carried this team at times, and he's sunk it at times. The team kind of goes as he does. And I really long for the days (which seem really far gone) of a time when TOs weren't such a persistent issue.

But Gardner, despite seemingly like he's been around a while at this point, really hasn't had a ton of experience as a starter. Then again, he has been in the program for 4 years. But on the other hand, he was a WR for a while.

In sum: I sure hope Gardner plays well on Saturday.

PurpleStuff

October 31st, 2013 at 3:48 PM ^

The team would be 7-0 if we hadn't given up a miracle drive @PSU and missed three game winning field goals.  Gardner hasn't sunk the team at any point this year.  The turnovers obviously aren't good, but without them we'd be talking about a guy headed to New York for the Heisman ceremony.

In Chad Henne's 2nd season as a starter (since that seems to be the model of success for the poster up above), the team was 4-3 at this point.  We failed to score 21 points in each of the losses, 2 of which came at home, to a 7-5 Minnesota team and a Charlie Weis coached ND team (we scored a whopping 10 points in that one). 

At the same age as Gardner, John Navarre lost to a Ty Willingham ND team (the offense posted 16 points, 7 of which came thanks to a short field, and we lost by two), and put up 9 points each in losses to Iowa and OSU. 

People seem to have zero memory of the "Glory Days" they can't wait to get back to.

GoBlueInNYC

October 31st, 2013 at 4:01 PM ^

Look man, I like Gardner and just said he's capable of great play. You don't have to jump on people for stating things that should be fairly obvious: Gardner has committed a lot of TOs, some of which are particularly bad (e.g., the ND INT). It's, by far, his biggest liability.

You're right, the team didn't lose to UConn or Akron, but they almost did in large part because of Gardner's lack of ball security (3 TOs against PSU), a problem he has had his entire career. I think his TOs are a huge problem that has put a lot of stress on the team, even if they haven't cost them a game yet.

All I said was that I miss TOs not being as big of an issue as they have been for the past few years. Denard wasn't exactly careful with the ball, either. Don't start ascribing opinions to me that I haven't stated.

GoBlueInNYC

October 31st, 2013 at 4:35 PM ^

Understandable. Opinions are getting kind of out of whack, and it's hard to separate out who's making crazy sweeping statements v. who's making a more minor nuanced statements. I could easily see how my "Gardner has an issue with TOs and it's causing problems" could be construed as "Gardner sucks and is ruining the team!"

Monocle Smile

October 31st, 2013 at 3:18 PM ^

I went off on you before about this, but you seem to love drawing this batshit link between "dual-threat" and "turnover-prone" without any significant data to back this up.

NO ONE HERE is saying "turnovers are fine if QB X can run."

You're probably right that Gardner's play will have a larger impact on the outcome of Saturday than anything else. You don't have to bitch about running QBs to make that point.

snarling wolverine

October 31st, 2013 at 4:10 PM ^

I believe Gardner has more turnovers this year than Chad Henne had in his entire career. (Maybe more TO's in his first full season of games, one or the other).

I don't know about total turnovers, but Henne threw 12 interceptions in 2004, his first year, and 37 in his career. Gardner has thrown 10 so far this year and 16 in his career.  Not a huge difference so far.  

You can find this stuff at the statistics archive:

http://statsarchive.ath.umich.edu/VS-Football/footstart.php

Erik_in_Dayton

October 31st, 2013 at 1:29 PM ^

You have to give credit to Dantonio.  He said he'd change the rivalry, and he did (albeit with an assist from Michigan).  I don't remember feeling so pessimistic heading into an MSU game, and even putting this game aside, they are just a very solid program.  The "little brother" thing really needs to die, because it does not apply right now, and it just makes us look like jerks. 

dahblue

October 31st, 2013 at 1:35 PM ^

Maybe it's because I didn't watch the PSU game (was stuck at a fundraiser but turns out best I didn't see it), but I'm more optimistic than most.  I don't think MSU scores more than 10; the question is really whether or not we can have a decent game on offense.

Side note, I can't fucking believe we have to play in that dump two years in a row...and that MSU gets away with a JV schedule.

Wendyk5

October 31st, 2013 at 1:49 PM ^

I don't think of the little brother thing as being just about football. Outside the state of Michigan, it's the block M people recognize. It's the maize and blue. Michigan is a much more formidable school, education-wise. Our sports history - mostly football - is more storied than theirs. We're just a more dominant presence across the board. Perhaps Mike Hart was talking about football but I think the term little brother is pretty accurate. Now, whether you bring out that term every season - that's another story. I'm of the opinion that if you are the leader, you don't need to tell everyone you are. We're the bigger brand - I think we should just stand silently on that. 

SirJack II

October 31st, 2013 at 1:57 PM ^

The little brother thing has little to do with whether Michigan wins this or that game. It's simply a convenient shorthand for State's pretty well-documented inferiority complex/fixation on Michigan. Don't forget that they themselves (i.e., State players) referred to themselves this way. I understand that overusing it is lame, but it isn't going anywhere because it perfectly encapsulates an aspect of State fandom. 

 

MichGoBlue858

October 31st, 2013 at 2:07 PM ^

There's no doubt Dantonio has done a good job at Michigan State, but he hasn't exactly been great. His record at MSU is 58-29 which is a .667 win percentage. Hoke's record at Michigan is 25-8 which is a .758 win percentage. So all the talk about MSU catching up to Michigan is a little over board, Dantonio is just doing better than the most recent MSU coaches. 

Teid Ekoc

October 31st, 2013 at 5:39 PM ^

I think the little brother comment is almost more relevant today than when Hart said it. The little bother comment is almost prophetic. You know what little brothers do right? They grow up. That is basically what State has done at football. We can't just push state around anymore because they can push back. You fight with your little brother but at the end of the day you don't hate him, and eventually you have to respect them. Basically where I am at now when i think of the MSU vs. UofM game. I am looking forward to a great game this weekend no matter what happens and at the end of it I won't hate MSU but i will always Love Michigan.

Bando Calrissian

October 31st, 2013 at 1:38 PM ^

I may have to travel home and watch this '73 special with my dad just to make absolutely sure there's an ambulance on standby. 40 years later he still gets twitchy about it, and this will put him over the edge.

I mean, if these guys somehow found video of the fabled sessions over Christmas break where Denny Franklin was throwing spirals on his miraculously mended shoulder... Hide the breakables.

AC1997

October 31st, 2013 at 1:39 PM ^

  • The "always surprising Calvin Bell reverse" was shown twice in one game, neither went for more than 6 yards.  
  • Michigan ran some sort of trick play at the end of the 3rd quarter that I can neither comprehend or understand how it was legal.  
  • I always though Walker's size and hands would be enough to hang around the NFL for a while.  I had a picture of that "catch" on my screen saver for years.
  • Iowa had a surprising amount of NFL talent on that team with Sanders, Clark, Banks, and Kaeding to name a few.
  • More evidence that classic punt coverage sucks.  
  • Not a ton of skill-player talent for Michigan on that roster with Askew, Butler, Bell, Seymore, and Thompson getting significant playing time.  

Thank goodness Wolverine Historian got his content back.  How else was I going to entertain myself for 10 minutes over lunch today?   

snarling wolverine

October 31st, 2013 at 1:53 PM ^

That trick play was called "Tiger," and we ran it a couple of times under Carr.  It's a type of single-wing play.  I think another time we ran it was in the Outback Bowl against Florida.

The Calvin Bell reverse was usually a pretty good play.  It usually got us a first down.  

Per the MGoBlue Statistics Archive (which is awesome), Bell altogether had 18 career carries for 235 yards (13.1 avg) and one TD.  His career long was only 34, so he was pretty consistent, if not a burner.  

Iowa 2001 seems to have been a rare team that stopped it; he had four carries for 18 yards that day.